BAGHDAD — Iraqi military units have been taking over responsibility from the
United States in the area of Tikrit, the hometown of deposed President
Saddam Hussein and regarded as an insurgency stronghold.
Iraqi forces have
been assigned an area along the Tigris River that would eventually be
extended from Baghdad to Mosul.
So far, five Iraqi military brigades have been prepared to assume
security responsibility in north-central Iraq. Officials said sustaining the Iraqi units through a logistics, training and
viable command infrastructure was a major challenge, Middle East Newsline reported.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, commander of the 42nd Infantry
Division and Multinational Division North Central, said Iraqi military units
in his area were capable of fighting Sunni insurgents. Taluto, based in
Tikrit, commands a coalition force responsible for an area from Baghdad to
the Kurdish areas of the north.
"We have turned over or closed nine forward operating bases [to Iraqi
forces]," Taluto said during an Aug. 17 briefing. "We will soon turn over
the palace that has served as our headquarters."
Taluto said Iraqi forces have been fighting what he termed a
"multi-layered insurgency" that included foreign Islamic fighters and Saddam
loyalists. He said the forces commanded by Al Qaida network chief Abu Mussib
Al Zarqawi were the most violent and have formed an alliance of convenience
with Saddam fighters.
Officials said the coalition was pleased with the performance of the
five Iraqi brigades in the north-central region. They said the U.S. military
was identifying and resolving deficiencies within the units.
"You can count how many guns you gave [the Iraqi security forces], you
can count how many trucks," Taluto said. "But there is a feel that you get
from these units that is tough to quantify. I know every Iraqi battalion
commander in this area. I know their qualities, and you get a feel about the
unit."
In northwestern Iraq, the Iraq Army has demonstrated increasing
capability. Officials said all of the Iraqi army soldiers in the area have
received basic training, and that all three brigades of the Third Iraqi
Division were
conducting operations.
Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of Multinational Force Northwest,
said the Iraqi division was preparing to conduct independent
counterinsurgency operations by June 2006. Rodriguez said his area of
operation contained about 35,000 Iraqi security forces, including 14,000
police, as well as
10,000 coalition troops.
The U.S. general said the Iraqi Second Division, originally a National
Guard force, has four brigades. He said one of the brigades should be ready
for independent counterinsurgency missions by December 2005.
"All of them are fighting, and all of them are participating," Rodriguez
said.